The Medici Dagger by Cameron West

1491: Leonardo looked upon his invention, understood its powers, and knew he must hide it from the men of his age. Thus, a profound treasure was lost for five centuries. Now the race to find it begins. Hurtling across the Atlantic, a plane goes down -- taking with it a page from the journals of Leonardo da Vinci. In Georgetown, the home of museum curator Rollo Barnett burns to the ground. Only his young son, Reb, escapes alive. Are the tragedies connected? Are they merely accidents or acts of murder? Twenty years later, Hollywood stuntman Reb Barnett, an educated, art-loving, high-risk-addicted daredevil on the run from his nightmares, refuses to believe so. Until a phone call rips him from his world of cinematic illusion, and sends him to Italy on a desperate quest where danger and violence are chillingly real. Reb seeks da Vinci's Circles of Truth, a coded fifteenth-century map that reveals the hiding place of the Medici Dagger, a weapon made of an alloy so light and indestructible it is worth a fortune to today's arms manufacturers. To Reb, it is worth even more -- it is his only link to finding the truth about his father's death, and to laying bare the dark demons of his own heart. But finding the Circles of Truth is only the first step. Breaking their complex code means matching wits with Leonardo himself. And staying alive means keeping one jump ahead of a shadowy adversary: the killer who haunts Reb's dreams. From the brilliant Tuscan landscape to the lush California coast, The Medici Dagger sweeps readers into an intriguing intellectual puzzle that delivers shattering suspense and fiery romance with the velocity of a 9mm bullet. Cameron West generates the roller-coaster thrills of the great classic adventure stories -- with the adrenaline rush of walking on a knife's edge between excitement and terror.

Meron West, author of the New York Times bestselling memoir First Person Plural: My Life as a Multiple, has a doctorate in psychology. He lives with his wife, Rikki, and son, Ky, in Aula Beach, California.